MicroRNA-425 upregulation indicates better prognosis in younger acute myeloid leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the expression levels of microRNA-425 (miR-425) were associated with the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients treated with chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). A total of 162 AML patients were enrolled and divided into chemotherapy and allo-HSCT groups. Next, the overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were compared between patients with high and low miR-425 expression in each of the treatment groups. In the chemotherapy group, high miR-425 expression was favorable for EFS (P=0.001) and OS (P=0.001) in younger patients (<60 years), whereas it had no effect on EFS and OS in older patients (≥60 years). In the allo-HSCT group, there was no association between miR-425 expression levels and clinical outcomes. Further analyses suggested that in the low miR-425 expression group, EFS and OS were longer in patients treated with allo-HSCT as compared with those treated with chemotherapy (both P<0.001), whereas no significant differences were observed in the high miR-425 expression group. In conclusion, the current data indicated that miR-425 is an independent favorable prognostic factor for younger AML patients undergoing chemotherapy, and its use may facilitate clinical decision-making in selecting treatment for AML patients. Patients with low miR-425 expression may benefit from allo-HSCT, whereas allo-HSCT did not appear to be beneficial in patients with high miR-425 expression.